Milwaukee County

Man pleads not guilty in Suboxone case

A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student charged with selling a prescription drug to a fellow student who later died has pleaded not guilty to four drug charges.

Troy R. Kelm, who is in jail in lieu of $20,000 bail, appeared Saturday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Kelm, 26, of the 2500 block of N. Prospect Ave. in Milwaukee, is charged with three felony drug delivery counts and one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession.

A preliminary hearing, to determine if there is enough evidence to put Kelm on trial, is set for Friday.

Kelm sold Luke Murphy half of a Suboxone pill for $5 on March 29, according to a criminal complaint.

Murphy, 19, of New London was found dead in his girlfriend's dorm room the next morning of apparent overdose.

Suboxone is prescribed for heroin users and can be fatal if mixed with other substances. It was taken, along with another drug, by Madison Kiefer the night before she died. The 15-year-old Whitefish Bay girl was found dead March 1 at a friend's Whitefish Bay home.

Murphy had been drinking at Kelm's apartment on the day he bought the Suboxone, according to the criminal complaint. Kelm told Murphy not to take the Suboxone if he had been drinking, the complaint says.